Body Found In South Jersey Lake Identified
By Robin Rieger
OAKLYN, N.J. (CBS) – Friends and co-workers of a South Jersey woman are coping with the bizarre circumstances surrounding her death.
Fifty-five-year-old Charlene Ferrero of Oaklyn drowned accidentally, according to the Oaklyn Police Department. Her body was pulled from Newton Lake Monday evening.
Police believe it's possible that Ferrero may have been sleepwalking down her street Saturday night into Sunday.
They say she may have fallen from a train trestle that crosses the lake between her neighborhood and Collingswood.
"I'm going to miss her. When I would walk with her, I'd be laughing so hard I couldn't breathe," said Teresa Cerini, Ferrero's friend and neighbor.
Cerini says she got worried Sunday morning when Ferrero's cell phone was found in the grass nearby and her apartment door was unlocked.
"I noticed her pocketbook sitting on the chair, and her wallet and key's sitting on top. The only thing I touched was her keys, (I) locked the door and called police."
Ferrero's car was damaged and police say witnesses confirm she drove it Saturday night, but they don't know what she hit.
"Everybody's in denial, we just can't believe it", said Rita Brown.
Ferrero's customers and co-workers at the Starview Diner in Somerdale are trying to cope with her death and the circumstances surrounding it.
"Wouldn't she wake up when she hit the water if she was sleepwalking," asked Brown.
"It's really disturbing to all of us. Sleepwalking, none of us knew that ever happened with her," said coworker Susan Murtaugh.
The flag outside the diner has been lowered in her memory.
"Good friend, good worker, never let me down. When I needed her, she was always there," said diner owner Michael Vasilakis.
After midnight Saturday, police responded to Ferrero's Oaklyn neighborhood when they got a call about a woman walking around in her pajamas. They never found the woman.
Sunday morning Ferrero was reported missing.
